Changes Learning To Care
by Stelynn
Summary: Post finale, Helena reflects on what has happened and how she's changed.


Disclaimer: I don't own Birds of Prey, if I did they wouldn't have been cancelled, trust me. Besides, I'm a broke, starving college student, definitely not worth suing...  
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It had only been a few days ago, but to Helena it didn't seem that way. It was strange to say the least. She wasn't about to forget anything that had happened, but at the same time it felt like everything had happened decades ago, to someone else, not to her, and not to the special few that she cared about. Above all, Helena knew that she wouldn't forget her betrayal. It was bad enough that she'd practically escorted Harley in and given her the full tour. Even thinking about what her words had done to Wade, and in turn to Barbara was unbareable.  
  
Pushing the thoughts out of her mind, for the moment at least Helena returned to the task at hand. She'd been spending the afternoon fixing up the Dark Horse. After the riots the place had been a complete wreck, but it wasn't that had to fix, she'd already carted the broken and empty bottles that were scattered around the ground to the dumpster in back. At the moment she was mopping although she wasn't sure how effective it really was.  
  
Her boss would take care of the restocking later, Helena just had to finish her mopping. For once it didn't actually seem like that much work, but that probably had something to do with all the work that cleaning the Clocktower had required. Helena was also thankful for the time to herself, short-lived at it would probably turn out to be. Sweeps had been running longer and more tiring lately, thanks to those unlucky few who thought that New Gotham was still open for the taking. Helena and Dinah had been sure to change their minds.  
  
Unfortunately the only thing that hadn't been around for a while was a good fight, and that was what Helena was really itching for. At this point she was up for anything. She'd been tempted to challenge Dinah to a 'work-out', but she didn't want to risk injuring the girl that she now saw as her kid sister, yet another change in her life that she didn't understand. After her mother's death Helena had been all but forced into letting Barbara in. Alfred had stepped in about that time too, and, even if she didn't want to have anything to do with her father, he often felt like her only true link to the man. Then Dinah had come along, relentlessly enthusiastic and strong-willed she'd managed to sneak her way into Helena's heart, the little sister she'd never had. And now there was Reese. Detective Jesse Reese. It was amazing even to Helena that she'd fallen for someone in law enforcement, and she could only imagine what her mother would think, but it had happened just the same.  
  
Harley had forced them all to take risks that they shouldn't have had to take. Of course none of them had backed down from the challenge, but, as she'd told Reese when she'd all but given up, sometimes it was just too much. Barbara was always talking about calculated risks, but there had to be times when that calculated risk was just too much, when it just wasn't worth it. Shaking away the thoughts Helena forced herself to save it for the punching bag upstairs.  
  
The floor was quickly finished and Helena returned the mop and the bucket to the cloest before trudging up the stairs to her apartment. For being as cheap as it was there was plenty of space, most people couldn't stand the noise of the bar just below, but it suited Helena just fine. She instantly turned on some music. Rock. Lots of angst, good lyrics, and, most importantly, a steady beat. She grabbed some suitable work-out clothes and changed before heading for the punching back that hung slightly off center of the apartment's main room. Keeping in time with the music Helena hit, kicked, punched, and body slammed the bag for somewhere around an hour before she was interrupted by the phone ringing.  
  
The last thing that she needed right now was to talk to someone. She'd let the machine pick it up and get back to them later. "I'm not here, and you should know how this works..." Helena heard her own voice as the machine answered. It was Reese, and that was enough to push away at least part of the cloud that seemed to be following her around. Throwing a few more half-hearted blows to the bag Helena made her way to the bathroom to get cleaned up before she went to go meet Reese. She still didn't understand what he wanted to do with her, they were almost complete opposites. Leaving that thought for another day Helena saw that it was already beginning to grow dark outside so she slipped into her favorite leather pants, a tight black t-shirt, and her long black duster.  
  
Almost as an after-thought she grabbed the earings and necklace that make up her com-set before climbing out a window onto the fire escape and jumping to the roof. It was just another night in New Gotham and Helena easily slipped into Huntress mode as her eyes changed and she began leaping from roof top to roof top, knowing exactly how to get to where she wanted to be... how to show up right behind Reese before he even knew that she was there...  
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You know that you want to tell me what you thought. Trust me, I know you do, and constructive critisism is my best friend, or at least one of my best friends!  
  
Thanx! 


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